Denver Botanic Gardens

Genetic diversity is essential for maintaining healthy populations and ecosystems. Several approaches have recently been developed to evaluate population genetic trends without necessarily collecting new genetic data. Such “genetic diversity indicators” enable rapid, large-scale evaluation across dozens to thousands of species. Empirical genetic studies, when available, provide detailed information that is important for management, such as estimates of gene flow, inbreeding, genetic erosion and adaptation. In this article, we argue that the development and advancement of genetic diversity indicators is a complementary approach to genetic studies in conservation biology, but not a substitute. Genetic diversity indicators and empirical genetic data can provide different information for conserving genetic diversity. Genetic diversity indicators enable affordable tracking, reporting, prioritization and communication, although, being proxies, do not provide comprehensive evaluation of the genetic status of a species. Conversely, genetic methods offer detailed analysis of the genetic status of a given species or population, although they remain challenging to implement for most species globally, given current capacity and resourcing. We conclude that indicators and genetic studies are both important for genetic conservation actions and recommend they be used in combination for conserving and monitoring genetic diversity.

Kavaratamide A (1), a new linear lipodepsipeptide possessing an unusual isopropyl-O-methylpyrrolinone moiety, was discovered from the tropical marine filamentous cyanobacterium Moorena bouillonii collected from Kavaratti, India. A comparative chemogeographic analysis of M. bouillonii collected from six different geographical regions led to the prioritized isolation of this metabolite from India as distinctive among our data sets. AI-based structure annotation tools, including SMART 2.1 and DeepSAT, accelerated the structure elucidation by providing useful structural clues, and the full planar structure was elucidated based on comprehensive HRMS, MS/MS fragmentation, and NMR data interpretation. Subsequently, the absolute configuration of 1 was determined using advanced Marfey's analysis, modified Mosher's ester derivatization, and chiral-phase HPLC. The structures of kavaratamides B (2) and C (3) are proposed based on a detailed analysis of their MS/MS fragmentations. The biological activity of kavaratamide A was also investigated and found to show moderate cytotoxicity to the D283-medullablastoma cell line.

Kgaria is described as a new porphyrellus-like genus of Boletaceae to accommodate Tylopilus cyanogranulifer, a dark brown to dull lilac/violet, or rarely, nearly black bolete with a series of oxidation reactions progressing from blue to red then nearly black and a dark brown spore deposit. Idiosyncratic blue-green pigment encrustations (cyanogranules) and a similarly colored reaction of the hyphae located on pileus and stipe surfaces are also diagnostic. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear large-subunit rDNA (nrLSU), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef-1), and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2) infer Kgaria as a unique generic lineage with two species, one of which is newly described (K. similis). Tylopilus olivaceoporus, originally described at the same time and as distinct from T. cyanogranulifer, appears to be conspecific with the latter. Some darkly pigmented taxa with similar oxidation reactions that were recently described from Brazil, Guyana, and China are further supported by morphology and molecular data as discrete lineages in separate genera in subfamily Boletoideae. Citation: Halling RE, Fechner NA, Holmes G, Davoodian N (2023). Kgaria (Boletaceae, Boletoideae) gen. nov. in Australia: Neither a Tylopilus nor a Porphyrellus. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 12: 31-45. doi: 10.3114/fuse.2023.12.02.

Many tropical wet forests are species-rich and have relatively even species frequency distributions. But, dominance by a single canopy species can also occur in tropical wet climates and can remain stable for centuries. These are uncommon globally, with the African wet tropics supporting more such communities than the Neotropics or Southeast Asia. Differences in regional evolutionary histories are implied by biogeography: most of Africa's monodominance-forming species are Amherstieae-tribe legumes; monodominance in Neotropical forests occur among diverse taxonomic groups, often legumes, but rarely Amherstieae, and monodominance in Southeast Asian forests occurs mostly among Dipterocarpaceae species. African monodominant forests have been characterized ecologically and taxonomically, but their deep-time history is unknown despite their significant presence and bottom-up ecological influence on diversity. Herein we describe fossil leaflets of Englerodendron mulugetanum sp. nov., an extinct species of the extant genus Englerodendron (Berlinia Clade, Amherstieae, Detarioideae) from the 21.73 Ma Mush Valley site in Ethiopia. We also document a detailed study of associated legume pollen, which originate from a single taxon sharing characters with more than one extant descendant. Taxonomically, the pollen is most comparable to that from some extant Englerodendron species and supports a likely affiliation with the Englerodendron macrofossils. The Mush Valley site provides the first fossil evidence of a monodominant tropical forest in Africa as represented by leaflets and pollen. Previous studies documented >2400 leaves and leaflets from localities at six stratigraphic levels spanning 50,000-60,000 years of nearly continuous deposition within seven meters of section; all but the basal level contain ≥ 50% E. mulugetanum leaflets. Modern leaf litter studies in African mixed vs. monodominant forests indicates the likelihood of monodominance in the forests that surrounded the Mush paleolake, particularly after the basal level. Thus, we provide an early case for monodominance within the Amherstieae legumes in Africa.

used simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to assess the genetic diversity of wild and cultivated populations of Arabica coffee from the Boma Plateau in South Sudan, which has been suggested as a centre of origin of Coffea arabica species, in addition to Ethiopia. Comparing these populations with accessions from Ethiopia, Yemen, and global cultivars, they confirmed their hypothesis and showed that the wild population analyzed was genetically distinct from Ethiopian Arabica. Because Arabica coffee is an autogamous species, thus with low genetic variability, South Sudan coffee population can be a rich material to be explored in breeding programs.In another paper, Dullo et al. ( 2021) evaluated the genetic accessions found in the coffee germplasm of CATIE International Coffee Collection (CICC) in Turrialba, Costa Rica, which has genotypes from all over the world, including from missions organized by several organizations to collected wild genetic material in Ethiopia. The methodological approach they created for an in-depth assessment of the collection can be used for other collections and help breeding programs.To

Suillus is a genus of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated almost exclusively with Pinaceae. Lack of sample collections in East Asia and unresolved basal phylogenetic relationships of the genus are the major obstacles for better understanding the Suillus evolution. A resolved phylogeny of Suillus representing global diversity was achieved by sequencing multiple nuclear ribosomal and protein coding genes and extensive samples collected in East Asia. Fungal fossils are extremely rare, and the Eocene ectomycorrhizal symbiosis (ECM) fossil of Pinus root has been widely used for calibration. This study explored an alternative calibration scenario of the ECM fossil for controversy. Ancestral host associations of Suillus were estimated by maximum likelihood and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analyses, inferred from current host information from root tips and field observation. Host shift speciation explains the diversification of Suillus major clades. The three basal subgenera of Suillus were inferred to be associated with Larix, and diverged in early Eocene or Upper Cretaceous. In the early Oligocene or Paleocene, subgenus Suillus diverged and switched host to Pinus subgenus Strobus, and then switched to subgenus Pinus four times. Suillus subgenus Douglasii switched host from Larix to Pseudotsuga in Oligocene or Eocene. Increased species diversity occurred in subgenus Suillus after it switched host to Pinus but no associated speciation rate shifts were detected. Ancestral biogeographic distributions of Suillus and Pinaceae were estimated under the Dispersal Extinction Cladogenesis (DEC) model. Ancestral distribution patterns of Suillus and Pinaceae are related but generally discordant. Dispersals between Eurasia and North America explain the prevalence of disjunct Suillus taxa.

Abstract Selection during plant domestication and improvement often decreases genetic variation, including variation that confers adaptation to local conditions. We report spatial and temporal variation in fitness (seed yield), local adaptation, and segregating genetic variation within three races of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with differing domestication histories and genetic diversities. Three‐hundred and twenty‐seven common bean genotypes had seed yield measured at subsets of 70 sites across North America between 1981 and 2015, as part of the Cooperative Dry Bean Nursery (CDBN). We estimated local adaptation using the metric home field advantage (HFA) and segregating genetic variation using heritability. The Durango and Mesoamerican races (Middle American genepool) had higher‐than‐expected (p = .002) HFA, equal to up to 34 yr of average yield gains. Surprisingly, Nueva Granada (Andean genepool) and Durango yields became more heritable across the study period (p < .001), while Mesoamerican heritability decreased (p < .001). Both metrics detected diversity loss corresponding to the timings of major historical gene introgressions. Local adaptation remains an agronomically important phenomenon within some common bean races. Common bean adaptation to new conditions will be most rapid at locations with large local adaptation benefits and high heritability.

The Green Roof at Denver Botanic Gardens was built in the fall of 2007. Since installation, data on the green roof have been collected on 118 plant taxa 43 of which have survived for over 10 years. Plants were grouped based on their metabolic and growth type: succulents, creeping forbs, upright forbs, graminoid, and shrubs. Overall, shrubs and succulents have displayed the highest survival rates, showing the greatest potential for use on green roofs in semi-arid conditions. Graminoids survived about half the time and creeping and upright forbs had the lowest overall survival in semi-arid Colorado. Species survivability rates were calculated based on the number of plants of that species originally installed on the green roof.

This protocol outlines the basic methods for measuring understory percent cover, soil moisture, tree canopy cover, and plant species richness, as well as for collecting plant specimens to be vouchered in the herbarium. These measurements estimate the abundance and presence of plant species in an area, and link them to environmental conditions (soil water and light availability) that may affect their distributions. Together, these data can reveal patterns in plant community or ecosystem processes. The understory percent cover measurements will be made using the line-point intercept method. In this method, a 25m transect is placed along the ground with a 25m by 1m belt transect to either side of it. Percent cover is measured along the transect, along with soil moisture and tree canopy cover. Plant richness is measured in the belt transect and the plant vouchering is done outside of the transect and belt transect area.